ELT Terms, Spring 2025

Personification

• Attributing human characteristics to non-human entities.

• Describing a character's physical appearance.

• Explaining a concept using metaphors.

• Creating a narrative with a moral lesson.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.L.11-12.5

Hyperbole

• A figure of speech that uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

• A type of metaphor that compares two unlike things directly.

• A statement that is literally true and factual.

• A rhetorical device that involves understatement.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.L.11-12.5A

Figurative Language

• A term describing words used literally to convey meaning.

• A term describing words that are used in ways that depart conspicuously from their literal applications to achieve a specific meaning or effect.

• A type of language that is always straightforward and clear.

• A style of writing that avoids any form of exaggeration.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.L.11-12.5A

Literal Language

• Language that means exactly what it says without embellishment.

• Language that uses metaphors and similes to convey meaning.

• Language that is overly complex and difficult to understand.

• Language that is used in poetry and artistic expressions.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

Synecdoche

• A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

• A type of metaphor that compares two unlike things directly.

• A rhetorical device that exaggerates for emphasis.

• A form of irony where the intended meaning is opposite to the literal meaning.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.L.11-12.5A

Pun

• A type of wordplay that involves a humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meanings.

• A serious statement that conveys a deep meaning.

• A form of poetry that uses rhyme and meter.

• A narrative that tells a story with a moral lesson.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.5

Figures of Thought

• Rhetorical figures that involve a deviation from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of words.

• Common phrases used in everyday conversation.

• Figures that represent numerical data in a visual format.

• Expressions that convey emotions without words.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.L.11-12.5

Unreliable Narrator

• A narrator whose credibility is compromised.

• A narrator who provides a detailed account of events.

• A narrator who is always truthful and honest.

• A narrator who is a character in the story.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Irony

• A contrast between expectation and reality.

• A situation where everything goes as planned.

• A type of humor that involves exaggeration.

• A method of storytelling that involves a twist ending.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Structural Irony

• A technique that uses a reliable narrator to convey the story's meaning.

• An implication of alternate or reversed meaning that pervades a work. This is often accomplished with an unreliable narrator.

• A method of storytelling that focuses solely on the protagonist's perspective.

• A literary device that emphasizes the truth of the narrative without any contradictions.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6